Mainichi Daily News: Kobayashi on sabbatical
The Mainichi Daily News has an English article about Joey Chestnut breaking Takeru Kobayashi’s record. The article contains a translation of the quote from Kobayashi’s manager found in the Weekly Today article about Joey Chestnut’s record.
He’s due to go for his seventh Nathan’s crown next month, but his manager Kumi Ozeki suggests that Kobayashi’s title defense might be in danger.
“Kobayashi’s mother died in March and he’s currently taking a sabbatical. He’s not even in training,” the hot dog eating champion’s manager tells Shukan Gendai. “I haven’t heard a word from him about whether he’s going to take part in the July contest and there’s no way that I know to get in touch with him.”
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carey poehlmann said
June 12, 2007 @ 7:02 am
This is a much better translation. Well, I have to respect the man’s decision. I, however, would have gone on, filmed a training montage, and dedicated the victory to my mom, then starred in the made for TV movie about myself. Or get Stalone to do it.
anonymous said
June 12, 2007 @ 1:47 pm
Of course he practiced . He tried break Chestnut’s record it and now his excuse is he will take a sabbatical. Great copout wont work
Rhonda Evans said
June 12, 2007 @ 2:21 pm
In Koby’s defense, he’s a relatively young man. Sometimes when you lose a very close loved one, like a mom (You never get another one.), it makes you reevaluate your life. Maybe he’s doing that now. I can certainly understand and I feel sorry for him.
Koby is the quintessential competitor. Let’s not forget that. But he also lost his mom. Some things are more important than competition.
donmoseslerman said
June 12, 2007 @ 2:59 pm
when I was defending my matzah balll title I came down the with a bad case of the flu and not to let down the fans , the sponser or the public relations dept . I not only competed , but did radio interviews and made public apeasrences for the sponser with a high tempture , for kobayashi not to compete is is a slap in the face to all the fans as well as the sponser . we should reserve judment untill it is 100% offoical that he is not showing up to defend his title..don moseslerman
I love Kevin Ross said
June 12, 2007 @ 3:25 pm
gimme a break donmoseslerman are you saying a little sniffle is the same as your mother dying. jesus christ.
KevinRoss said
June 12, 2007 @ 3:26 pm
Anonymous, that’s a horrible thing to say. Nobody would use their dead mother as a copout, you can’t be serious?
And Lerman. . .comparing the flu to the death of a loved one? You don’t see the difference between those two things?
I’m really taken aback by how insensitive people could be about this. I’d be as dissapointed as anyone if Kobe doesn’t compete on the 4th, but people don’t grieve on YOUR timetable. Everyone copes with loss in a different way and the loss of your mother at a fairly young age is one of the most traumatic things that can happen to someone, only being topped by a parent losing their child.
Anonymous said
June 12, 2007 @ 3:27 pm
His mom would want him to compete. And so would fans.
Rhonda Evans said
June 12, 2007 @ 3:38 pm
My judgment is no judgment. Now, during July 4th, or after, regardless of who shows or doesn’t show. I respect whatever decision Koby makes. I think he has earned that, especially under these circumstances.
I love Kevin Ross said
June 12, 2007 @ 3:39 pm
anonymous so you know his mom and what her wishes would be?
Anonymous said
June 12, 2007 @ 4:47 pm
I love Kevin Ross, I knew someone would correct me on that, so:
His mom would have probably wanted him to compete, I say go for it.
KevinRoss said
June 12, 2007 @ 4:55 pm
Maybe his mom didn’t approve of the eating contests for all you know. I know my mom isn’t the biggest fan and kinda cringes when I talk about it in too much detail.
Anonymous said
June 12, 2007 @ 5:23 pm
Okay, well whatever Koby decides, 4th of July won’t be the same without him.
donmoseslerman said
June 12, 2007 @ 5:54 pm
his mother died months ago and it wasnt a little sniffle it was accualy influenza plus i broke my index finger on my eating hand on route to the contest, ed jarvis can verify this , but the contest goes on and when your champ you defend your title .
Anonymous said
June 12, 2007 @ 6:18 pm
Don,
It goes on for an eater if that’s his priority. It was your priority then. Kobayashi’s priorities may be different.
KevinRoss said
June 12, 2007 @ 6:33 pm
Don’t get me wrong, it shows tremendous tenacity and dedication to speed eat with the flu. I actually have had the flu (or at least something similar) for the last two days, no lie. And I couldn’t even make myself drink a cup of water barely, let alone speed eat. So it’s impressive you did that. But still, the pain of losing a loved one doesn’t go away so easily as the flu. My mom lost her brother years ago and she and my grandma (that was her son) still are not the same because of it to this day. So I realize what a tremendous effect death of immediate family can have. But I really want Kobe to particpate to see a really good match up, but it isn’t anyone’s decision but his own whether he does. I personally think he’ll show up. But if he doesn’t, I can’t imagine he wouldn’t at least show up for krystals – so a Joey/Kobe showdown would still be not THAT far off. Anyway, I wasn’t trying to say you weren’t hardcore for pushing yourself while sick, but physical illness just can’t compare to a traumatic loss of the most important person in your life.
frankie said
June 12, 2007 @ 8:53 pm
I don’t mean to sound unsympathetic but didn’t Kobayashi have some stupid quote on his website saying “It is possible to die from eating. But I think to be professional means you don’t die.” ?
Most jobs will give you 5 days for bereavement leave but 5 months is not professional.
Frankie
Mega Munch said
June 12, 2007 @ 9:37 pm
My mom would want Koby to compete.
edward "cookie" jarvis said
June 12, 2007 @ 10:55 pm
Im sorry to see no koby MORE SORRY FOR JOE; BUT THAT DOSEN’T ME SOMEBODY NEW .ITS TIME FOR A NEW KING BUT IT’S NOT THE SAME AS BEATING THE CHAMP.GOOD LUCK TEAM USA I’LL BE THERE TO ROUTE YOU ON.
Kevin Carr said
June 13, 2007 @ 1:09 am
I may only have been able to do 12 1/2 dogs in my Charlotte qualifier, but I sure as heck can make predictions about CE…
In my interview with Ryan Nerz back in May 2006 (see http://www.7mpictures.com/inside/profilesingluttony.htm at the 34:45 mark of the interview), I predicted that Joey would come close to Koby in the 2006 finals and Koby would go out on top.
Again, after the 2006 finals, I posted on this site: “My prediction … is that Koby will retire from Nathan’s now. He was so close to losing this year, and he got a real scare.”
I completely sympathize with Koby about losing his mother, and his family has my deepest condolences. However, I find it hard to believe that he requires four months to grieve. It seems to ring more of an excuse in the making than the real truth.
Why is it only mentioned now after Joey broke Koby’s record? That’s kinda curious to me. You’d think he’d have been making travel arrangements with the Sheas at least several weeks ago, considering that Coney Island is only 3 weeks from now.
Remember, this is the guy who can no longer come to a contest for a slam dunk. He didn’t win gracefully in Nathans last year (in fact, he looked like he was about to pass out at the end of the 12 minutes) and arguably reversed in the contest itself. And Krystals was a solid win for him but far from a slam dunk.
Koby has my respect for the eater that he is, and my heart goes out to his family for his loss. Still, it seems like he’s preparing to hide from Joey in this contest.
carey poehlmann said
June 13, 2007 @ 7:21 am
Mr Carr, if, after 12 minutes of eating Nathans hot dogs and buns, you aren’t ready to pass out, maybe you didn’t try hard enough. Oh, wait, 12 and a half, yeah, I think it is a possibility. Your last paragraph should have stopped after your self promoting and predictions. You sound alot like Don Lerman.
So, which Shea brother told you that he didn’t make travel arrangements with them, because I haven’t read anything online about that.
I think we can get off of the reversal point already. Yes, maybe he shouldn’t win because of something like that, but it wasn’t throwing up, so you cannot say he was ready to throw up. The guy had more than what came out stuck in his teeth. It was a small amount that was in his throat when he either coughed, or had a stomach spasm, neither one an indicator of throwing up. He went on to eat alot more, so obviously he wasn’t done.
I have never seen Koby in public or on a documentary where he wasn’t a nice guy. He never talked crap about anyone, and just because he ran away with the title in the beginning, everyone feels that he would be a poor loser, so he won’t compete if he thinks he will lose. Where are you getting this from?
Frankie, what does that quote (which was translated from Japanese because Koby doesn’t speak english, which is why it sounds weird) have to do with the subject of his mother dying? And he isn’t a factory worker who needs a week off to cry about it, this happened right when both he and Joey normally start their training for the Fourth. That is going to have a big impact on the outcome.
Yes Don, I know that when you were preparing for your butter battle (or whatever championship you are going to plug on your next comment) you didn’t need two months to prepare, and you did it while in a coma, but even the great moses doesn’t throw down numbers like these guys do.
Mega Munch said
June 13, 2007 @ 8:10 am
I don’t see any shame in retiring on top. If he thinks his days as the hot dog champ are over, why not step down while he’s still got the title? Micheal Jordan could have learned a thing or two from Takeru Kobayashi.
donmoseslerman said
June 13, 2007 @ 9:43 am
Thats not the point , if koby said last year win lose or draw this is his last nathans that would be different but to wait till almost the very end of the year to make this annoucment is not right , he owes it to the fans , the sponcer ans the public relations dept to compete this year.
I love Kevin Ross said
June 13, 2007 @ 10:06 am
he owes nothing to nobody he can do what he wants “sponcer” be damned
Rhonda Evans said
June 13, 2007 @ 10:15 am
I agree with you about that MM. If … if Koby were to decide to retire at this time in his career (and this is only conjecture, of course), who could blame him? He has earned that right. It’s not like he has given no one elae a chance, successfully defending the belt 5 years in a row after initially obtaining it in 2001.
Additionally, if people think back a couple of years, Gersh Kuntzman first reprted on the possibility of Koby retiring in 2005 when no human was within a dozen dogs of him. George Shea followed up that notion commenting that he could understand if Koby decided to do so. But Koby loves competition and has always risen to the occasion (that’s an understatement) each and every time in the past.
So how many times does he have to defend a championship? How many times does he have to compete before he is no longer “accused” of running from the competition? What must he do to “earn the right” to retire? Should he not be able to retire on his own terms? If not, why does he or any eater compete at all?
Like Mega says, Michael Jordan (and Larry Holmes, and Herschel Walker, and George Foreman, and Deion Sanders, and others {along with an eater or two in CE} would have done well to have not stayed beyond their prime).
And Koby is truly at the zenith of his game. I doubt he can get any better than he is right now. Our memories of great athletes are analogous to the phrase, “What have you done for me lately?” As such,
my wondefully fond memories of Koby as the ultimate hero of the sport of CE are intact right now!
Gentleman Joe said
June 13, 2007 @ 10:32 am
I must admit that if anyone “owes” anything to “the sponcer ans the public relations dept” That said, Kobe owes know one anything. We owe him. Nathan’s & the Shea’s in particular owe HIM. Even with the moneies that have likely been paid previously by Nathan’s & the Shea’s, make no mistake, Kobe is the one who is owed… probably millions.
Kevin Carr said
June 13, 2007 @ 2:29 pm
Wow, that struck a nerve. Incidentally Carey, it wasn’t self promotion. I was pointing out that I made these statements more than a year ago, and they’re coming to fuition.
I don’t know if George or Rich are making arrangements with Koby, but I would imagine that since he’s the biggest name in CE and he’s the current champ there would be some communication between the IFOCE and Koby’s people well before the contest. (I didn’t say someone told me he wasn’t making arrangements, but when his manager says he can’t even get in touch with him, I’m assuming he’s not making arrangements.)
It’s not like Koby doesn’t know the contest is coming up. For his manager to come out a month from the contest and announce that not only is it possible he won’t show up but that he hasn’t been in touch with him at all is a bit suspicious. It’d be one thing if Koby was an occassional eater, but he’s a professional. This is his job, for crying out loud.
As for retiring when you’re on top, I’m all for that. But retiring a month before you’ll most likely get beaten, that’s lame.
I’ve met Koby before, and he’s very polite. But in competition, he can be pretty arrogant. Look at his body language in every contest but 2006 Nathans. He’s flayling his arms and making a spectacle of himself. Flexing his muscles and showing off his six pack at the end of a contest is a bit cocky, if you ask me. Yet at the end of Nathans 2006, he was shaken. Sure, he won, but no arrogance whatsoever. His confidence was shattered, and he didn’t know how to deal with it.
In the U.S. Open’s first round against Scott Sayer, he was so far ahead in cheese fries that he started eating them one at a time – and got booed by the audience for bad sportsmanship. And he should have gotten booed then because he was acting like a jerk.
It’s easy to be gracious when you win all the time, but when you almost lose or lose and not be gracious – that’s when a true sportsman is revealed.
Finally, on the reversal comment. Ask anyone who has lost a contest with a reversal. It doesn’t matter if you are neck-and-neck or 2 lbs ahead of the next guy. If you reverse, you reverse. THis debate on if it hits the table or falls in your cup is b.s. It might have been a hollow victory to win against Koby with a reversal, but that’s the way it works for the rest of us.
I will say that I think Koby is an amazing eater, but the guy has no experience losing, and I don’t see him doing so gracefully.
Anonymous said
June 13, 2007 @ 3:54 pm
You’re way off base, Kevin.
A lot of guys coasted through the second half of their first round matches at the US Open. Kobayashi and the other probably didn’t want to run up the score, which would be far worse sportsmanship than eating a fry at a time. Go back and watch the contest. Watch Janus. Watch Lefevre. Why is Kobayashi a bad sport for putting it in cruise control?
As for flexing his muscles, Kobayashi has done enough television to understand what makes for good visuals and a good story. I don’t think he’s arrogant. I think he’s doing what the television cameras and the show’s producers want.
Kevin Carr said
June 13, 2007 @ 4:49 pm
Well, anonymous, apparently everyone in the audience at the U.S. Open had it wrong, ’cause they booed him. There’s a difference between going on cruise control and humiliating your opponent.
Janus and LeFevre didn’t kill themselves in the first round, but they were good sports about it. They didn’t humiliate their opponents.
Eating a single fry at a time in small bites was humiliating. Taking a slow, steady pace that matches your opponent would have been the actions of a good sport. Ask anyone who was there. Was it cruise control? It wasn’t, and the audience turned on him fast.
Incidentally, I don’t think this part was aired. I was there when it was taped. If it was edited out of the telecast, it was done so for obvious reasons.
carey poehlmann said
June 13, 2007 @ 4:49 pm
well, isn’t that what self promotion is? You basically said “Look at me, I was right” especially since you pre-empted it with “I sure as heck can make predictions about CE…” and followed it with a plug for your interview.
But I am not saying self promotion is wrong, as long as we aren’t swamped by it.
Good point about the cheese fries. Didn’t see that one. About the reversal, I don’t think it was throw up. Could it be, if it was so little, and he had so much in his stomach? I think the ruling itself set the standard by saying that if it isn’t actually throwing up, there is no foul. There should be a separate rule for the instances where you might have a full mouth and you cough, and some or all of it comes out. Is that covered by the “actions contrary to eating?”
Anonymous said
June 13, 2007 @ 5:38 pm
Janus and Lefevre stopped eating entirely. At least Kobayashi ate one fry at a time.
And don’t forget: everybody who was advancing past the first round had to save himself for the second round, 14 minutes of pasta, later that day. Kobayashi is entitled to save his stomach as much as the next guy is.
Kevin Carr said
June 13, 2007 @ 5:42 pm
Okay, I’ll give you the reversal thing. The whole topic doesn’t have enough hard and fast rules anyway, so losing a little from your mouth is a bit different than actually tossing it out of your stomach.
I also apologize for too much self-promotion. I really don’t care if you listen to my interview. I just wanted to make sure there’s a link to it in case you want to verify what I said. Otherwise, I could claim I said almost anything, and with no proof, it doesn’t mean much.
Sorry if I’ve offended anyone.
carey poehlmann said
June 14, 2007 @ 10:26 am
“I saw that, too,” Shea said of the Japanese report. “I said, ‘What’s going on here?’ We have purchased the guy a ticket. We’ve been in discussions with him. All I can tell you is it’s full speed ahead here.”
-from cbs news
carey poehlmann said
June 14, 2007 @ 10:29 am
I’m sorry, it was abc news. Sounds like he is still expected to be there.
Mega Munch said
June 14, 2007 @ 11:06 am
WE’ll see. Looks like some people have their signals crossed. Maybe these “will he or won’t he” reports are part of an elaborate ruse cooked up by the Koby camp to start some drama (not that this year’s contest needs any).